The Many Ways to Say “I Think” in Chinese

Once Chinese learners reach the intermediate or advanced stage, they will encounter, “synonyms”, or words with similar meanings. Telling the difference between words with similar meanings is a key part of improving one’s mastery of the language. It is probably not easy for you to understand similar Chinese words such as “想”(xiǎnɡ), “觉得”(juéde), “认为”(rènwéi), “以为”(yǐwéi) by yourself without guidance, especially when your teacher may have told you that they can all be translated into “think” in English. Actually, there are many such words, with slightly different meanings in Chinese, thought they all say “think” in English. In this article, we are going to focus on “think” in Chinese –“想”, “觉得”, “认为”, “以为”–as they are very useful and also used frequently in expressing opinions, ideas, and feelings. Here is a brief summary about the differences and, more importantly, the usage of “think” in Chinese.

A General Chart on “Think” in Chinese

“Think” in Chinese

想

觉得

认为

以为

Part of speech

Verb

Verb

Verb

Verb

Explanation

To express personal opinion and make a subjective statement.

To express personal feelings mostly, or to make a subjective statement.

To express a judgment after careful analysis and thought.

To express subjective judgment, and this judgment usually is contrary to a fact.

Subjective or Objective

More subjective

More subjective

Lightly objective

Subjective

Tone

Not quite sure

Not quite sure

Lightly sure

Not quite sure

Formal or not

Casual

Casual

Lightly formal

Casual

Doer

Usually people

Usually people

People or a certain group, in an essay, a meeting etc.

Usually

people

Object

More focus on general things.

More focus on general things.

Focus on something important or scientific, or general things.

More focus on general things.

Tip：here，we need to complete another meaning of “想”, used to express personal will or plan, which is shown at the beginning of Chinese learning .

Cecilia majored in teaching Chinese as a foreign language. She has vast experience in educating her students on how to listen to and speak Chinese, and is trained to teach HSK courses. She has mastered the method and practice of teaching the structure, historical development, and relationships of languages as an academic subject, and has also done extensive research on Intercultural Communication and Sinology.